Back problems as well as the resulting headaches and nausea from a 2015 spinal surgery gone wrong have cost Kerr parts of Golden State’s last two seasons, but the fourth-year coach is optimistic about both his health for the 2017-18 campaign and his ability to steer the potential dynasty into the future.

Even before he returned to the sidelines, Kerr always remained confident he could coach again — “Hell yeah,” he would, was how he described his future in late May — but even then he conceded to former Bay Area News Group columnist Tim Kawakami, “We have to figure everything out this summer.”

Kerr’s recent interview with Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler was even more welcome news, as the seven-time NBA champion and 2016 Coach of the Year revealed his health has “definitely gotten better,” even if “I still feel like there’s improvement to make.” The unfortunate reality, though, is that Kerr believed the same was true last season, when he told the Chronicle at the start of training camp in 2016, “I feel a lot better than I did a year ago. I’ll be out there coaching and I’ll be ready to go.”

“You kind of get used to flying around and staying in hotels and all that,” Kerr told Ostler. “But the two-month grind of the playoffs, where you’re having to get up for every game, and then relive that game for a couple days, and get picked apart, and the stress that goes with that. Do that over and over and over again, it wears you out.”

Here’s hoping Kerr can coach pain-free someday soon. In the meantime, he sounds fully prepared for the challenge of adding to a legacy that includes the NBA’s all-time best winning percentage in both the regular season and the playoffs, headaches or not. “I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished, and I love being part of something special,” he added to Ostler in the recent one-on-one-interview from San Diego. “In a perfect world, I will get some relief from the pain I’ve felt, so I can enjoy it more.”

The Warriors open the 2017-18 season on Oct. 17 against the Houston Rockets at Oracle Arena, where they will receive their second championship ring in three years. Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Kerr will be on hand to add a seventh to his collection. Hopefully that provides some temporary comfort.